RC Planes

alexthecheese said:
Yeah I'll be starting with it as it is... I ordered it on the basis that it's pretty much ready to go, but as I've been reading and getting more into it I've just been buying little upgrades for it, so if it fails I can swap it over.

FPV is what started me off, but the more I read about it the more expensive it seems. On screen displays showing exact locations, speed, altitude, battery voltages, mAh used etc seem to be the norm, they even have autopilots and return to home features which seems pretty mental. :eek: Also there is datalogging associated with that, so you can load your flights into Google Earth and all that. People with 20+ mile roundtrip flights seems the norm with the right kit also... crazy.
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That's cool, you might find it works just right for you straight from the get go.
I've seem some of that FPV kit, it can get really expensive! I liked the hacked wii remote mounted to some video glasses that lets the camera turn with the pilots head. Just like being there.
 
Do I spy a GWS Formosa up there Saitrix. I had one, with a great paint scheme I did.

They knife edge amazingly well. In fact it was a great little electric. May just order another after seeing that photo reminded me of her.
 
Magic_x_uk said:
Do I spy a GWS Formosa up there Saitrix. I had one, with a great paint scheme I did.

They knife edge amazingly well. In fact it was a great little electric. May just order another after seeing that photo reminded me of her.
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Oh yes you do, such a wonderful plane now electrics have plenty of power. :D Mine is now in much worse shape than that pic but it still flies well, tempted to build a new one, though I am tempted to try a none GWS plane. I have a GWS E-starter ready to be built too, will give it some cheap brushless and a 3s pack, should do for easy flying days.

Edit - Guy as work has FPV kit, looks good! Maybe try it once I have got flying again.
 
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Wynthorpe said:
The TF gear is pretty nice indeed, i have a Corsair in the garage waiting to be built, Its the Giant scale one on their site, ive had it years, just not got around to building it yet, i want to build it true scale so will take a lot of time indeed.
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Haha! I'd probably enjoy building it more than I would flying it! There's a massive thread on a forum somewhere, about people building them and using uprated nose gear and where to get the correct scale parts etc.

alexthecheese said:
That looks chuffing brilliant.
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It really does, I love it! They fly very nice to apparently, with a 2-stroke in there it would be nice :)
 
Wahoo, finally got some post! Not delivered to my door of course, we were in when delivery was supposedly attempted, but no knock or door bell used. Interesting.

Anyway, got my GiantCod order through:

Flysky 9x 2.4ghz transmitter and receiver
6 x 9g servos
A bunch of props to play around with :)



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That's a 2212-06 motor (whatever that means lol :p) with a 3 blade 8x6 prop. I can see that prop murdering the motor if I run it too hard.

What do the numbers mean on the props by the way? First is diameter, second I presume is pitch, but which way do the numbers go? 6 is more aggressive than a 4, say, or the other way around?

Awful photos due to me still running with an iPhone 3g. :o

Also, Smartieparts board for flashing the firmware of the FlySky 9x. Includes the micro USB connectivity and a backlight for the LCD display - which looks like it'll be really useful.



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8x6 prop means it's 8" diameter, and for every turn it will move through 6" of air.

I think that's right. I'm new to planes myself.

I've flown my Clouds Fly/AXN Floater jet for the first couple of times this weekend. One crash due to a bad hand launch (he didn't throw it upwards at all), one hard landing, and one crash due to pilot error. No damage apart from some creases in the EPO foam. It's going well.

I'm heading out again soon. This time I'm going to try flaperons for landing.

Flight times are ridiculous. I flew 10 minutes, checked the voltage, and flew another 10 minutes. Even after that, I was still at 3.9V/cell so could have done another five easily. On my helis, I only usually fly for 4.5 minutes. By then I've had enough, though I could fly for longer.
 
It's 6" of "solid medium", it's all theoretical any way,l rather than air but yep.
Of course having different numbers of blades and the difference in width also changes the thrust provided, and the current drawn by the motor.

I was trying to work out why that prop didn't look quite right, but it's a pusher isn't it?
 
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Bigpops,

Spot on with the prop size there.

Surely why don't you get a low voltage alarm for your plane? That way you won't have to worry at all about doing voltage readings. Does the included speed controller cut the motor at a set voltage too as surely the plane is a nice glider you would be able to get it safely landed with no motor.

alexthecheese,

I have seen the threads on rcgroups on that transmitter, I am really tempted by it so will be interested to see how you get along with it.

This is going from memory here but 2212-06 , the 2212 stands for 22mm stator diameter, 12mm thick stator. The 06 at then end will normally mean something with the number of turns on the stator, ie the kv of the motor.
 
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saitrix said:
Does the included speed controller cut the motor at a set voltage too as surely the plane is a nice glider you would be able to get it safely landed with no motor.
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i think you can set some to reduce the power to the motor at a certaint point? i saw some people talking about it on a heli forum (heli and planes both use the same ESCS)
 
Blimey, all stuff is VERY confusing to a complete RC Plane noobie...

Is there a starter kit I can buy which has everything I need? And then can build on etc??
 
That AXN Floater looks very similar to mine, Bigpops. A EPO foam pusher thingy. :p

Where did you get it from, and what did it come with? Motor, ESC and all that?

And what batteries were you using for flying that long? 25 mins is a long time!

And... :cool:... how are you setting up flaperons? Are flaperons a way of using ailerons as flaps, or is it a combination of the two? I want to set the flaps up on mine when I've got it, guess it'll be easier to land and what not, but I need to cut the flaps and then fix some tape across the hinges to stop them falling off - that's what I understand is needed anyway.

The transmitter is supposedly pretty good for the price, saitrix. Makes a horrific beeping noise every time you press a button though which is already doing my head in. :p
 
Ewaf said:
Blimey, all stuff is VERY confusing to a complete RC Plane noobie...

Is there a starter kit I can buy which has everything I need? And then can build on etc??
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It does seem completely daunting when you first start reading, but it's not that bad. What I've done is order something simple, and then in the process of reading started ordering other bits to either upgrade or just give me alternatives to the setup of the plane.

Like I say, I'm still yet to receive anything that will actually fly. ;)

Look around for something that only requires a TX (transmitter), RX (receiver) and batteries. That way all the servos, motor, ESC (electronic speed control) are already in and won't need much fiddling with.

HobbyKing is the obvious choice for cheap Chinese stuff, but what about stuff over here? Anyone got any ideas for online shops in the UK?
 
I have used the following before in the UK.

www.robotbirds.com
www.alshobbies.com
www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/
www.giantcod.co.uk


Ewaf,

How about this,

http://robotbirds.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=5517
http://www.giantcod.co.uk/giantcod-...igital-transmitter-plane-versio-p-403852.html
http://www.giantcod.co.uk/imax-balance-charger-p-406640.html
http://www.giantcod.co.uk/gta6imaxturnigy-charger-adapter-lead-p-403648.html

Total = £158

The charger and transmitter will then last you for the future. Worth spending that little more initially and having stuff that lasts. I found out the hard way on that, originally I bought a cheap transmitter and charger. I had to replace both within a year of getting my first plane. A proper computer transmitter is worth having for the expo's and epa's, I wish I had those things back when I started flying!
 
alexthecheese said:
That AXN Floater looks very similar to mine, Bigpops. A EPO foam pusher thingy. :p

Where did you get it from, and what did it come with? Motor, ESC and all that?

And what batteries were you using for flying that long? 25 mins is a long time!

And... :cool:... how are you setting up flaperons? Are flaperons a way of using ailerons as flaps, or is it a combination of the two? I want to set the flaps up on mine when I've got it, guess it'll be easier to land and what not, but I need to cut the flaps and then fix some tape across the hinges to stop them falling off - that's what I understand is needed anyway.

The transmitter is supposedly pretty good for the price, saitrix. Makes a horrific beeping noise every time you press a button though which is already doing my head in. :p
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I got the Clouds Fly/AXN floater from BRC hobbies, for £89 delivered. It came with motor, 4x servos ready installed, and a junk Turnigy 20A ESC. There are plenty of good Turnigy ESCs, but this wasn't one of them. They're supposed to come with a 25A ESC these days, according to the wiki site for the AXN.

I always planned to replace the electronics, and I only bought it there because HobbyKing Germany were out of stock, and shipping from HK would have come too close to the cost of buying in the UK to be worth it. They (Hobbyking germany) have stock now if anyone's interested (no electronics included), for about £45 shipped. No slow shipping from the German warehouse in my experience. I buy my 6S helicopter batteries there.

I fitted the orange Hobbyking servos which are dirt cheap but decent, a card programmable Super Simple 25-30A ESC with 3A ubec, and a Spektrum AR6110 receiver which I already had. I'm running a tired old 3 cell 2200mah Zippy battery. I've just got back from my flight today, and after 20 minutes in the cold, and there's still 3.85 in each cell. I glide it as much as possible, so that helps massively.

Flaperons deploy like flaps, so you get more lift at low speeds, but they still move like ailerons to give control. For flaperons, you need to use an extra channel on the receiver so the aileron servos plug into a channel each, throttle, rudder and elevator as normal. Then, in my case, you set the models wing type to flaperon in the radio, and how much flaps you want in the radio. I only did this as I already had a six channel receiver, so might as well use the extra features of my radio instead of running a Y lead to the ailerons.

EDIT: @saitrix: I do plan on getting a low voltage alarm, but the ones I want are all in china, and with the new year I haven't bothered ordering it yet.
 
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saitrix said:
I have used the following before in the UK.

www.robotbirds.com
www.alshobbies.com
www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/
www.giantcod.co.uk


Ewaf,

How about this,

http://robotbirds.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=5517
http://www.giantcod.co.uk/giantcod-...igital-transmitter-plane-versio-p-403852.html
http://www.giantcod.co.uk/imax-balance-charger-p-406640.html
http://www.giantcod.co.uk/gta6imaxturnigy-charger-adapter-lead-p-403648.html

Total = £158

The charger and transmitter will then last you for the future. Worth spending that little more initially and having stuff that lasts. I found out the hard way on that, originally I bought a cheap transmitter and charger. I had to replace both within a year of getting my first plane. A proper computer transmitter is worth having for the expo's and epa's, I wish I had those things back when I started flying!
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Not near as expensive as I thought it would be :O And that has everything I need to get started? or will I need some other bits and bobs.

Thanks!
 
Bigpops said:
Flaperons deploy like flaps, so you get more lift at low speeds, but they still move like ailerons to give control. For flaperons, you need to use an extra channel on the receiver so the aileron servos plug into a channel each, throttle, rudder and elevator as normal. Then, in my case, you set the models wing type to flaperon in the radio, and how much flaps you want in the radio. I only did this as I already had a six channel receiver, so might as well use the extra features of my radio instead of running a Y lead to the ailerons.
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Right... so you have separate ailerons and flaps, but the ailerons work as they normally would, and the flaps deploy to give extra lift but move in relation to the ailerons?

And would you call it setting up a 'mix' to get the working in the required fashion? Is that right?

This is where it starts to get complicated. :o

EDIT: Ah no, seems like the ailerons only are used by extending downwards further to act as flaps, whilst retaining movement to act as ailerons. That's why they need a channel each.

Can you set it up so the flaps also move with the ailerons?
 
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